The N Wars: Balance of Powers
by First Black Phantom
Summary: -N WARS 3- With the Zox Empire becoming the Zox Republic literally overnight, the drastic change left a gap in power. Many races have envied the Zox's power, and now they have an opportunity to have it. Balance will come, but who will stand on top?
1. Chapter 1: A Dangerous Deal

**Chapter 1**

**A Dangerous Deal**

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The small, blue planet Rindall in dimension Z90 rotated peacefully amidst the stars, with three Zox patrol ships in orbit. Within one of them, two Zox officers spoke to each other. They were restless, having sat in orbit for nearly 12 hours doing nothing, and it was starting to get on one of the Zox's nerves. His fingers tapped the armrest of his chair over and over.

"I can't believe this! I was once the commanding officer of the 31st CD fleet, and now I've been reduced to a single scout ship, patrolling what was once a planet under our control!" The agitated Zox replied. The other officer was not in full agreement.

"I don't know, I find it amazing that some people have actually been willing to forgive us for everything we've done to them. I think the new Republic can become even stronger with peacefully trading with others instead of taking everything by force." There was a small smile on the optimistic officer as he thought about the future. The agitated Zox narrowed his eyes and looked straight at the officer.

"If I were in command, I would knock you right into…" He wasn't able to finish his sentence as the alarm sounded. He looked at the main screen and saw a dimensional portal opening.

"Two unidentified portals opening at three o' clock!" Another Zox shouted.

"Who's coming through?"

"I'm scanning. It's..." The other Zox's eyes widened as his screen displayed what was coming though. "It's five Echna speeders!"

"What? Tell the other ships to get here immediately!" The agitated Zox took hold of the flight controls, and the officer went to his weapons station.

The small scout ship was only about three times the size of an Arwing, with two main laser canons. It was not built for a major battle, but now they had no choice. Their orders were to protect the planet, and they would be in trouble from the council if they turned tail and ran.

The scout ship got out of orbit, while the other two came rushing towards its side. The Zox flew them towards the opening portal, but before they came within firing range, the five speeders came through. They looked somewhat like the M-rates, except longer and thinner, with several stems pointing out from the back, with a ghostly blue aura surrounding it. One headed down towards the planet, while the others targeted the Zox.

"Officer, aim for its nose!" The scout ship and one of the speeders headed straight for each other, and the Zox opened fire. The lasers flew towards the Echna, but the blue aura around the ship reached out in front, and once the lasers hit, they seemed to just disappear. The speeder responded by shooting a blue sphere from its aura, which collided with the scout ship. The hum of its engines began to die down.

"We've lost propulsion!" Seeing that they were still alive, the speeder tossed another blue sphere at the Zox. The attacks knocked the ship back, and the lights inside turned off.

"We've lost power!"

"Thanks for pointing out the obvious." The Zox said under his breath. "Can you get enough power to reach central command?"

--

Within the command center of what was once the Empire's castle was the Republic's central command. Several Zox sat at communication consoles keeping in contact with countless people. One of the screens on the consoles turned on with a distress call. The picture was blurred by static, but it showed an injured Zox.

"Mayday, request back-up! Patrol sh…25 at Rin…under attac…Echna speed…Request imme…ack-up."

"I read you. What is your condition?" Just then, the distress call of the other two scouters were being displayed on his screen, both in the same condition. The communications officer was about to contact a patrol nearby, but then one of the video screens showed only the dreaded words, 'No signal.' Then the other followed suit, and then the last. The officer then opened a channel to a communications center on the surface of the planet Rindall, but it showed nothing but static.

"Rindall, come in! Rindall, can you hear me?" There was no response. The screen went blank, and the Zox bowed his head in defeat.

"Not again." He said in remorse. A hand then rested on his shoulder, and he looked to see the face of Shin.

"Jack, send a message to gather the council."

"What for?" Jack said. Shin's face was stern, and very serious.

"We need to inform Nintendo about this."

--

On a small, murky planet, a stone tower rose high above the ground. From the top of the tower, all that could be seen was a layer of thick fog below it, hiding whatever was on the surface. Another layer of clouds, high above the tower kept out much of the sun's light, keeping the planet in perpetual twilight. The tower itself was made of large stone blocks, with twelve verandas coming from the side atop the flat, circular roof of the tower. On top of verandas where one could stand was a circle, with foreign writing drawn on it.

A strong breeze began to blow by, followed by a lightning bolt which struck the center of the tower. Where the lightning struck now stood a creature hunched over with age. He stood about four and a half feet tall, five if he could stand up straight. A cloak covered his body, and all that could be seen were the claws that came out from the sleeves, a twisted wooden staff in his right hand, and glowing red eyes.

The old creature raised his staff, and tapped the floor four times. A pale, blue light then crawled along the floor in four directions, emanating from the staff. The light went to the direction of four of the circles atop the verandas, and once it came in contact, the circles lit up, and a beam of light shot up into the air. Silhouettes of other characters then came out from the ground, rising in the beam of light, and resting atop the surface of the tower. The lights faded, and four other creatures now stood on top the tower, shaded by the darkness of the planet. The robed figure then began to speak. His voice showed his age, but it was twisted from years of malice.

"Listen up and listen well. I have released you from your prison cells because we have a mission for each of you. If you accept it, you will receive your freedom. But if you decline, you'll go right back to your cells. Now, what say ye?"

"Heh heh. I accept, gladly." One man said boldly. His dark countenance showed a wicked grin, with thoughts of resuming old plans. The others nodded in agreement.

"Then this is your task: you will each be sent to different locations, as shown by these maps." The old creature said as he held at his left hand, letting go of four clear, marble-sized crystals. The crystals then floated in the air towards the prisoners. "It will lead to a guarded object that you must retrieve for us. Now go, and bring me the relics!" The old one then raised his staff into the air, and lightning struck down beside each of the prisoners. A dimensional portal opened to the side of the tower for each of them, and without hesitancy, they jumped in.

As the portals closed, the robed creature remained, grinning.

"Soon, the power of the Nintendo 64 will be yours, my Lord."

--

The grand castle of Hyrule was the central power of the kingdom, with royal dignitaries and trained military roaming about. The sun shined on the beautiful structure at high-noon, but despite this, the sky grew dim for a moment, and a small portal opened just outside the castle.

A large figure dropped from the portal and into some bushes, hiding from the guards. The portal then closed, and light returned to the sky, leaving the residents confused, but unalarmed.

"Ow, I forgot how rough dimensional travel can be without a ship." The prisoner said as he stood up, rubbing his head. He was humanoid in shape, but his appearance was more that of a turtle. He wore a pair of goggles which were resting on his forehead, with a large jetpack strapped to the back of his shell. There was also a belt that hung from his left shoulder down to his right hip, having many pockets.

The turtle reached into one of the pockets, and removed the marble-sized crystal that was given to him. As he held it in the palm of his hand, a holographic map of the castle appeared just above it, which directed him exactly where he needed to go.

"Hmm, doesn't look too hard. According to this map, there aren't even a lot of guards!" Despite the turtle's large appearance, his voice was a little high-pitched.

With one of the castle's windows right in front of the humanoid-turtle, he simply stepped up to it, pulled from one of his pockets a small pen, and held it up to the window. Luckily for him it was large, as most of the other ones were too small for him to fit through. Once he pressed a button on the pen, it emitted a red laser that quickly cut through the glass. The cut-out leaned towards the turtle, which he carefully grabbed and set it aside, not making a sound. He climbed in and began his search.

He found himself in a hallway at a T-section, with a red carpet laid on the floor. Several tapestries hung from the walls, many of which displayed three golden triangles that formed into one triangle. The turtle didn't care about the interior design, however, so he only glanced at his surroundings for a second.

He ran down the hall where he came to another T-section, but this time he heard the sound of clanking metal. He stopped before entering the adjacent hallway, where he saw two soldiers walking towards each other. As soon as he saw them, the soldiers saw him as well.

"What the? You, hold it right there!" One of the soldiers said, pointing his spear at the intruder.

"Uh oh." The turtle then reached for one of the pockets on his belt, and pulled out a metal sphere. He threw it towards the two guards, and the guards then raised their shields to block it, but they didn't expect what would happened next. Three metal arms burst from both sides of the ball and wrapped around the guards. The arms then contracted, binding the Hylians and knocking them to the floor.

"Ack! Help!"

"Hey, quiet! I want to get this over with quickly!" The humanoid turtle said while kicking the guards in the head. It must have knocked them unconscious, because they didn't say anything after that. The turtle then sighed.

"I wish the Echnas would have left more of my gear with me; this might be difficult." He then looked down the hallway. "Ug, what now?" Another guard could be heard coming, but this one was running, no doubt having heard the call for help.

Elsewhere in the castle, the princess of the kingdom was walking down a set of stairs at a hurried pace.

"Something's wrong, something's very wrong." She said quietly to herself. Once she reached the bottom, she motioned to the two guards that stood by the stairs.

"You two, come with me."

"Is there something wrong, your highness?"

"I'm not sure, but something's not right."

--

"So…have you seen Link lately?" One guard asked another.

"Yeah, saw him doing some training yesterday. His skills have improved. I still think there isn't a person alive that could match him." The two guards spoke a lot to each other to pass the time, as their particular station was quite boring. They stood in the lowest level of the basement, guarding a simple wooden door. The brick was almost a blackish color, and only a few torches provided light. It was an unfriendly, boring place.

"I actually heard he'll be giving some lessons next week. If I wasn't on duty at that time I'd…wait, do you hear that?" The guard then stood still. The other Hylian listened intently, and then he heard something. He heard what sounded like something hitting the floor somewhere upstairs.

"Should we go check it out?"

"No, we have a strict duty to fulfill." A few seconds later, they could hear footsteps coming down the stairs from across the hall. It was dark, but they could see the silhouette of something big. It stopped as it reached the bottom of the steps, and the intruder was breathing heavily.

"This place is off-limits, identify yourself!" The guard shouted. No verbal response was given, but instead a burst of fire appeared where the figure stood, lighting the room and revealing the character to be some sort of monster. With the sound of a loud roar, the monster flew towards them at an incredible speed. They readied their spears in defense, but it was hopeless. As soon as the green monster was near them, the fire behind it stopped, and the creature flipped around, landing his feet right into their chests.

The turtle's momentum drove his feet deep into the Hylians, bending their breast plates inward and breaking all of their ribs. He pushed off from them once momentum no longer carried him forward, and quickly stood on his feet. The guards fell to the ground and didn't get back up. He wasn't sure if he killed them or not, but he didn't care either way.

Finally reaching his destination, he reached for the knob of the door and opened it, but he was stunned when all he saw was a wall.

"What's the meaning of this?" The turtle shouted in his high-pitched voice. He reached towards the wall, but stopped his hand just an inch from it.

"Aw, it's a magic seal, isn't it? Now I see why they chose me to do this." He then placed the palms of both of his hands against the wall. About two seconds past before the wall started to bend, like a still pond bends when a drop of water falls on it. He pushed harder against the wall, and its bending became more severe as he continued to press. He started to push harder, and the wall began to twist and bend wildly.

"Man, this is a strong one! This must be something pretty important." Before long though, it started to fade away, vanishing from sight. "Heh, stupid magic ain't got nothin on me!"

Once it disappeared, however, air was now able to enter it, and the vacuum effect threw him inside. As air rushed past him, it sucked him inside, tumbling along the floor. He came to a crashing stop once his head hit a round, stone pedestal. He stood up after he recovered from the hit, rubbing his head and feeling a small bump.

"Man, how was I supposed to know it was air tight? Oh, is this what he wanted?" The turtle looked at the pedestal, seeing an odd, three pronged object with a rod pointing in the opposite direction of the prongs.

"What's so important about this?" He wondered as he grabbed the object, inspecting it with his three-fingered hands. He started flicking a small, short rod that had a flat, round top in the middle of the object.

He didn't look at it long before he heard the sound of a dimensional portal opening behind him. Here turned and faced it.

"Well here it is, have fun with whatever it's for." He tossed the object into the portal, and the portal then slowly closed. "Ha ha ha, at last, I can enjoy my freedom!" As soon as the portal fully closed though, he could see a road block in his freedom. About twenty guards were blocking the exit and a woman in a dress was standing in front of them, and she didn't look happy.

"What have you done? Where did the controller go? Who are you?" The woman demanded. The turtle creature simply smirked.

"The name's TurtleTech! And the Controller? If that's what you call that thing, then it's in the hands of the Echnas now. But nothing here matters, anyways; I'm sure they've got this planet targeted for extraction." TurtleTech then positioned his goggles over his eyes. "Which is why I'm outta here!" A clear, cone shaped helmet came out from the jetpack and over his head with a quiet, mechanical whir. His jetpack then roared to life, the heat and propulsion creating a strong breeze, and sending him straight towards the woman.

The princess waved her hand, creating an invisible, magic barrier in front of her. She was confident that he would crash into it, so she merely stood there. Once TurtleTech hit it though, it became visible in its light, pink hue as it simply bent around him like a thin piece of gum. The princess was completely taken by surprise, and only had a split second to get out of the way. She managed to leap to the side, though she was hit by his shoulder and knocked into one of the soldiers.

TurtleTech continued blasting forward, knocking down the other soldiers like bowling pins. He zoomed up along the stairs, down the hallway, and then right through a beautiful, stained glass window depicting three golden triangles. TurtleTech took to the air, leaving behind Hyrule, a trail of steam and smoke left in his path.

Zelda gathered herself together and looked to see if the other soldiers were okay, and only hoped the two guards that she had ordered taken to the doctor would live. She looked back at the room that once held one of the four keys to the Nintendo 64, and could only shake her head in worry.

"This is bad; very, very bad."

--

Inside the control room in the base of the Resistance, a young, blond-haired woman typed on a keyboard. A large monitor in front of her displayed a list of numbers and letters, as she was going through some new data they had collected.

Both humans and reploids worked and lived at the base, each going about their own business. With the destruction of both Neo Arcadia and Dr. Weil, things had been rather peaceful. It seemed like the peace among humans and reploids that X and Zero had fought so valiantly for had finally come. Though there was still plenty of work to do, the blond-haired woman was very pleased with the peace they were having. At least, until an alarm sounded.

"Ciel, some sort of monster just appeared in the storage room! It came out of a black portal, and it's attacking us!" A voice said through a transmission from her computer.

"Get squadron seven down there!"

"Our weapons aren't even phasing it! It seems to just agh…!"

"Zeta? Come in, Zeta!" Ciel, the blond-haird woman, shouted, but no response was given. Ciel accessed the security cameras to see what was going on. All she could see were lasers being fired into an open door, so she accessed a camera inside the storage room. As she did though, she only caught a glimpse of a black figure before the camera was hit by a laser.

"Argh! No good! Just what was that anyways? Another Maverick?" She then brought up another screen that showed a map of the base, displaying a red dot as the intruder. It was in the hallway now, and it wasn't moving very fast, but it was heading straight towards the end of the hall. As she thought about what was in that area of the base, realization of what was going on hit her hard; the intruder coming through a black portal, and the secured room that it was heading towards could only mean one thing. She quickly pressed some buttons on her computer.

"Colonel!"

"Yes Ciel?" The Colonel replied over the transmission line.

"The intruder is heading towards the controller safe! Stop it! Stop it at all costs!"

"On it!" The woman then looked at the computer screen, and saw that it was already near the door to the safe.

"I just hope the security lock will hold it off." She thought to herself. She tried accessing another security camera in the metal hallway, this time getting a view of the three soldiers, and the back of the intruder.

She hadn't seen anything like it before; its body seemed more like the absence of one, like looking at the frame of a body, but within that frame was like looking at the night sky. It was humanoid in shape, but large, with long claws, and thick, spiked dreadlocks that hung from his head. Every bit of its body was black as night, except for small dots of light that would come and go within its body, like growing and fading stars.

Ciel could now see what he meant by their weapons not having any effect. Any laser that hit it just simply vanished within its body, with a dot of light appearing on its body where it hit, and then fading away.

Ciel's fists were clenched and her mouth held tight as it approached the door to the safe. The monster stopped for a moment, then spun around to face the soldiers that were firing at it. A pair of white, menacing eyes that glowed from the creature's featureless face stared down at the reploids. It stretched its hands towards the reploids, even though they were a good thirty feet away from it. Its claws then seemed to instantly stretch out like needles, piercing the Resistance soldiers. Ciel gasped as her friends were skewered, witnessing the painful look on their faces. The soldiers then fell to the floor lifeless as the monster retracted its claws.

The freak of nature then faced the end of the hallway again, and walked towards it. At the end of the hall was an unlabeled metal door, with a keypad on the side. As it approached the door, however, it continued to walk, slipping right through it like a ghost.

Time seemed to stand still as Ciel watched the computer screen. The blaring alarm continued to sound, casting flashes of red light on the walls, with three reploids on the ground motionless. The intruder had entered the controller safe, and there was nothing she could do about it.

A new group a soldiers then came running down the hall, three of which came to the aid of the wounded. The others lined up in front of the door to the safe, all aiming their rifles towards it. Another soldier ran to the door and stood aside as it entered an access code on the keypad. The door 

slowly opened, and fingers were ready on the trigger, but when the door opened, there was only an empty room. No monster, and no controller. Ciel dropped to her knees, and her head hung low.

"Zero…if only you were still here." She began to sob, and she put her hands over her face, as a tear dropped to the floor.

--

It was mid-afternoon in the Mushroom Kingdom, and the scenery outside of the castle was bright and green as ever. Inside a nearby tree, however, laid a small spider, eyeing the surroundings carefully. It watched as a small person with a mushroom for a head walked out of the castle door, and off to the town. Seeing that this person had access to the castle, the spider grew, and within a second, morphed into the exact image of the toadstool person that just walked by. It then opened its hand, holding a small, clear crystal in its hand, which displayed a holographic map above it.

"This doesn't look too hard." The morphing creature said in the voice of the toadstool. It hopped out of the tree and walked up to the castle door, opened it, and walked inside. Inside was a lobby, with stairs in front and on the side of the room, and several doors. The map showed that he had to go downstairs, so he started for the door to the side of the front stairs.

"Toad?" A woman's voice sounded. "Toad? Toad, do you hear me?" The voice was starting to be agitated. Realizing that this comment was directed towards him, he looked to his right, and saw a woman in a pink dress, wearing a crown.

"Uh…yeah?"

"Why didn't you answer me? Didn't you hear me?"

"Uh…no, I've got an ear ache; hearing is a little bad." The disguised creature said in a quick response. The princess tilted her head, wondering why Toad was acting so strange.

"I think you should see the doctor."

"Uh…okay." He then continued towards the door.

"Toad, have you lost your way now? The doctor's office is upstairs."

"Uh…right! Just slipped my mind!" The creature then walked towards the stairs in a hurried pace. The princess was worried, as she had never seen Toad act that way.

The Toad copy opened the door to the doctor's office, and another toadstool person warmly greeted him. His mushroom head had brown spots, and a matching white beard and white coat.

"So, how can I help you Toad?"

"Um…ear ache."

"Okay, hope on the table and let's have a look." The doctor took an instrument with a magnifying lens and looked into Toad's ear, trying to find anything abnormal.

"Hmm, looks good to me." He stopped looking in his ear, and then noticed that Toad was holding a shiny crystal. "My, where did you find that?"

"Outside." The copy said distantly. The doctor held the crystal himself, but jumped as he saw the transparent map appear above it.

"Astounding! Why, this is a map of the castle! Wait…this leads to the…." The doctor didn't finish his sentence before the creature knocked him out cold. The copy's face was emotionless as he looked at the doctor on the floor, but he quickly grabbed the doctor and dragged him under a desk. Hopefully no one would find him there until he got what he came for.

Not wanting to take any more chances, the creature ran out and hurried down to the basement. As he entered the lobby again, he passed a short man wearing blue overalls and a red shirt.

"Where are you off to in such a hurry?" The man asked with a smile. Not wanting to get in more trouble, he simply said,

"Busy." The Toad copy then headed towards the basement, and ran down a dark hall until he came to a maze-like area of the basement. He rounded a corner, and saw some water on the lower parts of the floor, and a large painting of a fireball with a face on the wall up ahead. He took a quick look at the map again, and then ran up to the painting. He lifted the bottom of the frame, and pressed firmly on a specific brick. The brick receded into the wall, and the water on the floor then receded as a secret door opened.

An opening in the floor was now visible, with a ladder that led further down. The creature grabbed hold of the ladder and continued his desired path, going about three levels before he reached the floor. Below was a small room, only about a quarter of the size of the lobby, with a metal door at the end.

The Toad copy smiled, seeing his freedom within grasp as he walked to the door. His hand reached out to the door as he neared it, beginning to think of what he could do with his freedom.

"Toad! What on Nintendo are you doing?" A voice shouted from behind him. The creature cringed in surprise. He then turned around to see the same man he saw earlier, except now he was with a taller man in similar clothes, except his shirt was green.

"I hope you have a good explanation for this." The green one said. The copy narrowed his eyes, and his voice showed anger.

"You're not making this easy." In seconds, the Toad they saw before them grew, and morphed into a large, purple snake. Its body was as wide as a human, and about a hundred feet long, filing up most of the room. Its tail rattled furiously, and its head, with mouth wide open, launched at the two brothers.

The two brothers jumped to the side in opposite directions, and because they were close to the wall, the snake rammed its head right into it. It was stunned for a second, but he quickly shook it off. The snake was about to look at where the two humans were, but that was when he felt something on top of him. He looked behind him, and saw that the two brothers were on its back, attempting to hold him down.

"Get off!" The shape-shifter shook about furiously, but they hung on tight. Trying a different approach, he threw his back against the wall, but the two humans jumped off in time. He then reached towards the green-shirted one, and twisted his body around him. He grabbed hold of him and twisted hard, trying to squeeze whatever he could out of the human.

"Mario, help!" The man said while gasping for air. While keeping hold of him, the snake turned to the other human, but was quickly met with the man's fist, right to his chin. The red-shirted one quickly threw another punch, smacking him in the nose, and was about to throw another but the snake moved away from him. The shape-shifter then swung his tail at the man, and threw him flying right into the wall.

Dazed, the man got back to his feet. His brother was starting to turn blue, and he himself was having a bit of blurred vision from that last hit.

"Mario, catch!" It was the voice of the princess, who was now hanging on the ladder, just a few feet from the floor. In her hand was a large cube with a question mark on it, which she tossed towards Mario. The giant snake didn't want to take any chances, so he quickly used his tail to throw the mysterious cube aside. As soon as he had hit it, however, a yellow object in the shape of a star, with eyes, came out of the cube, which fell towards the human. Once he grabbed the star, his body shined and sparkled, while different colors of light flashed from.

"Uh oh." The human began spinning around in circles with his fists straight out. He spun, increasing speed, until he was only a blur. That blur then headed for the snake's head, which was pummeled by innumerous punches from the spinning human. He continued in this fashion, moving down the snake's body, until it was completely covered in bumps and bruises.

This added strength from the star did not last long, but it was long enough to do the job. The snake fell limp, releasing his brother.

"Luigi, are you okay?"

"I…think…so." The man said through heavy breaths. "But just…who is…this guy?" The red-shirted man turned around to face the snake, but he noticed that it was starting to lose its form. Its body was shrinking, turning yellow and supple, almost melting as it were, until it was a small puddle of florescent, yellow goo on the floor. The man walked up to it, inspecting it.

"I've never seen anything like this, and if it was after the controller, then it might not even be from this planet." He then bent down to get a closer look, but it then started to move. The man stepped on it to stop it, but it was like trying to hold on to an egg white. It simply stretched out towards the middle of the floor where a small drain was. The creature slipped out from under him and went down the drain. He leapt head first trying to grab it, but it was too late.

"Mario, I have a bad feeling about this." The princess said. She was walking towards the two brothers, her face showing worry. "I think we better warn the others guarding the other keys." The two brothers and the princess went back up the stairs, not knowing that the worst was yet to come.

-

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Disclaimer: All characters from the Zelda and Super Mario games are property of Nintendo, and all characters from the Megaman Zero games are property of Capcom.


	2. Chapter 2: The Aftermath

**Chapter 2**

**Aftermath**

Mario, Luigi, and Peach walked into the lobby of the castle, having just come up from the basement. Because the shape-shifting intruder had tried to steal one of the keys to the Nintendo 64, they were quite worried about the other three.

As Peach entered the lobby, she saw one of her Toad servants coming down from the stairs in quite a hurry.

"Princess Peach! We found Doctor Herald unconscious in his office!"

"Oh my, is he okay?"

"I think so. Toadette is watching over him right now. I think he'll wake up soon, but I'm not sure. I mean, he's the doctor, not me!" The servant said in defense. Peach looked at the servant, and with a very serious tone said,

"Listen, I want you to get the plane ready immediately. Mario and I are going to Hyrule."

"Hey, I wanna come too! It's been forever since I've been to Hyrule." Luigi said, waving his arms.

"Very well, the Mario brothers and I will be heading to Hyrule." Peach said with a slight smile. It had been a while since she was able to enjoy the company of both Mario and Luigi.

"Right away, Princess!" The servant said, bowing his head. He ran towards the door, but just as he reached for the handle, the door swung open with a powerful force, slamming the servant in between the door and the wall.

"Princess Peach! You have an important visitor!" Toad said with a serious tone. He stood in the doorway holding the door opened, not having realized that he just slammed one of his coworkers with the door.

"Um, a little help here?" The other servant said, his mouth to the wall.

"Oh! Sorry! Didn't know you were there!" Toad then moved the door to let him by.

"So who is it?" Peach asked. Her question was answered, however, as just at that moment a Zox stepped into the lobby. Mario and Peach were taken back by this surprise, but Peach recognized something about him.

"Shin?"

"Ah, I'm glad you remember me." Shin's serious demeanor lightened a little to the response.

"How could I forget? You were the one who watched over us in that prison." Peach began to think back to the time they were captured by the Zox, waiting for days before they were rescued with the help of the Zoramites. She didn't think about it long though, as she was still curious why he had come to Nintendo. "It's nice to see you again. I don't think I can thank you enough for letting us escape."

"Yeah! That cell certainly wasn't fun!" Luigi added.

"I should be the one thanking all of you. It's through Mario's help that we were able to rid ourselves of the emperor." Shin then looked at Mario, and was surprised to see that he did not look as happy as Peach was. Shin then became serious again. "I suppose you're wondering why I'm here?"

"Yes, I am. You're timing doesn't make me feel comfortable."

"What makes you say that?"

"Just a few minutes ago, someone tried to steal one of the keys to the Nintendo 64." Mario said bluntly. Shin sighed and lowered his head.

"No good, I might be too late." He then stood firm and faced Mario straight in the eyes. "I'll get straight to the point then. I need to speak with the person in charge of Nintendo."

"This planet isn't ruled by one person." Peach said. "There are many lands, each of them governed in their own way. As for the Mushroom Kingdom, I am the one in charge."

"Then my secretary and I need to meet with the both of you immediately." Shin said while motioning to someone outside. Mario and Peach took a better look outside, and could see that a small spaceship had landed just outside of the castle, and another Zox was walking towards them.

Inside Peach's castle was a small rectangular room with a large, long table. There were no windows in the room, but it was lit by some lights from the ceiling. At the front of the room was a double-door entrance, which opened to let Mario, Luigi, Peach, and Shin and his secretary inside. Peach sat down at the front end, while Mario and Shin sat on the front sides. The large Zox tried to make himself comfortable in the chair, but to no avail; it was made for someone a lot smaller than him.

Shin surveyed the small room, observing the several pictures hanging on the wall. All of them were Toads, except one: a picture of Princess Peach.

"Former Kings and Queens?" Shin asked.

"Yes, they are." Peach replied. Shin started to wonder how a human became the ruler of what was predominately a Kingdom of Toads.

"So, what did you come here for?" Mario asked straight up.

"I came here to warn Nintendo about a possible invasion, and if someone tried to steal a key to the Nintendo 64, then it looks like that invasion is underway."

"But by who? Didn't the Zox government stop their invasions?" Luigi asked in surprise.

"Yes, we have managed to stop all hostile military actions against other planets, but therein lies the problem. You see, my people were essentially the most powerful race in all of known existence, and there are many people who have envied that power. Our government, literally overnight, went from being a power-hungry tyrant to a non-hostile race."

"So in other words, the Zox society has been turned upside-down."

"Yes, Mario, you can put it that way. And it's because of this that those who envied our power have taken their opportunity to try to gain dominance."

"I see. There's been a large shift in power, and things are no longer in balance. It looks like this means that there will be a lot of dust before things settle, and balance is achieved."

"Quite so, your Highness; this is why I've come here. Because the people of dimension N were able to defeat two War Masters, you will be high on some people's hit list."

"Do you know who it was that tried to steal the key?"

"I can't be certain. Describe to me the attempted thief."

"He was a shape-shifter." Luigi replied. "He took the form of a giant purple snake when he fought us."

"Shape-shifter?" Shin said in surprise. "If he transformed more than once then it can't be a Zoramite, and there's only one other race I'm aware of. I doubt it would be them, though. Technology wise, they're quite primitive, so I doubt they're even aware of you. Can you tell me anything else?"

"Well, there is the odd way he knew exactly how to reach the key."

"Hmm, is it possible he's been a spy living with you since you sealed the key?"

"No, I doubt that." Peach said. "When he took the form of Toad, he was acting quite odd. If he had been a spy that long, I imagine I would have noticed it." Peach then saw that Shin sat back in his chair, and slowly drifted his sight to the table. He seemed to be unsure of what to think. After a moment of silence, Shin's assistant spoke up.

"Sir, are you thinking of the same thing I'm thinking of?"

"I think so." Shin shook his head. "I still think it's a hoax, but it's hard to explain otherwise."

"What is it?" Luigi asked. Shin then turned to his assistant.

"Hand me the data pad." The assistant opened the case he carried and handed him a flat, electronic device with a touch-screen. Shin made some motions with the touch-screen and then placed it on the table. A holographic projection was then displayed above the device.

The image that was being displayed was a humanoid creature, 1/3 in scale. Its body color was similar to the Zox, except it seemed to have scales like a lizard. It was wearing dull-silver armor, with black runes written on them. Its hands were thin, but their claws seemed as sharp as a piranha plant's teeth. It didn't seem to have hair, but the top of its head had what seemed like pointed dreadlocks, a feature that reminded them of Knuckles. The creature seemed to be formidable, but the feature that drew everyone's attention was its face. It bore a wide grin with pointy teeth, and sinister red eyes. It seemed almost as if it was staring right into their souls, wanting to tear it apart. Peach began to feel a little scared when looking into those eyes, as they reminded her of her nightmare.

"This," Shin stated, "is an Echna. While the former government of my people may have dominated many planets, there are some who fought against us. Of all of them, the Echnens are our greatest foe. Even now, when we have issued pardons to everyone, they still continue to fight us. Actually, their attacks have greatly increased within the past week."

"So what makes you think it's them?"

"Of the Echnens we've actually managed to extract any information from, they speak of their all-knowing Lord. They claim he is all powerful and all knowing, all most as if he was some sort of God to them. Obviously, I don't think he's a God, but somehow he does seem to know a lot. There are times when an Echna will infiltrate our defenses as if he knew exactly what to do. If this is truly the people who sent that shape-shifter after you, then…" Shin was interrupted when the doors to the meeting room suddenly flew opened and Toad rushed in.

"P-princess! Princess Zelda and Master Link are here to see you! They say it's urgent!"

"Then please, let them in. Oh, and Toad, it looks like you can cancel that flight to Hyrule." Princess Peach said as she stood up. Mario started to feel more uneasy after Toad's message, and he knew it wasn't last night's lasagna. Zelda then stepped into view, with Link following behind.

"Zelda, it's a pleasure to meet you again. Please, take a seat" Peach stated with a small bow.

"It would be a pleasure if we were meeting under different circumstances. We come with bad news: one of the controllers has been stolen." Zelda said, continuing to stand. Everyone else in the room groaned. "We also wanted to warn you, in case the thief comes after the one hidden here."

"I'm afraid you're too late." Mario said. Zelda and Link took their seats.

"He took your key too?" Link asked.

"No, actually, we managed to stop him." Mario said. Link then sighed.

"Well, as long as we have that one, the 64 can't be used by the wrong hands."

"This is bad. This means the other two might have been stolen!" Luigi said, his eyes darting back and forth. Luigi's words seemed uncanny as Toad came running back to the room.

"Princess! Ciel is here! S-she says it's urgent!" Toad said. Peach again stood and asked to let her in. Ciel came in, surprised to see that there were several people gathered there.

"I have a feeling that I'm too late to warn you." Ciel said, looking disappointed in herself.

"Let me guess: someone stole the key you were keeping safe."

"I'm afraid so, Mario. Please forgive me. The thief seemed to come out of nowhere, and nothing we attacked him with was effective." Ciel's gaze lowered towards the ground, and she then spoke in a low voice. "We lost two soldiers. Perhaps if Zero was still…"

"Ciel, please, you can't blame yourself." Peach said, stopping Ciel.

"So, two keys have been stolen and one key has been kept safe. There was one other, correct?" Shin asked.

"Yes, the one under professor Oak's care."

"We should send a message to him quickly in case they haven't attempted to take it yet. Ciel, can you contact Professor Oak?"

"Yes, I'll go do tha…."

"Sir! Six dimensional portals just opened over Nintendo!" A voice shouted from a device Shin wore on his belt. Shin picked it up and spoke to the other Zox on the line.

"Who is it?"

"Not who, it's _what_, sir. We're detecting massive energy spikes. They're black crystals! Sir, the Echnens are attempting a terra drain!" The Zox replied. Shin quickly gave the Zox on his ship an order.

"Go! Destroy the black crystals! And avoid hurting any civilians if possible."

"And if we're too late with some of them?" The Zox asked. Shin gripped the radio device tightly, and spoke in a low voice.

"Let's just hope it doesn't come to that."

"Shin, what are these black crystals?" Peach asked, worried that it was something very bad. Shin looked directly at Peach, and told her plainly.

"It's the source of the Echnens' power, and their greatest weapon."

* * *

Just north of Veridian City was Route 2, a passageway through the forest often taken by Pokémon trainers. The lush green grass and hills provided a scenic walk when travelling, especially when going downhill on the small slope. Some Pokémon pass through the area, but many will run away when humans come through.

During the day, while Mario and the others were at Peach's castle, a young trainer came dashing downhill on his red bike. He was peddling faster than usual, leaving a dust trail behind him. As he came to some of the short cliffs, he flew right off them, the shocks on his bike absorbing most of the landing. He continued his furious pace, his white hair whipping against the wind.

As Veridian City came into his view, so did a larger cliff. It seemed a little steep, but he was in a hurry, and the other route would take too much time. He picked up the pace a bit, and as he came to the cliff, he made sure to keep the bike steady. The cliff was steep, but he was sure he could manage. As he reached the edge and his bike went over, he could feel the lightness as he was no longer held up by the ground. Keeping his angle right as gravity pulled him down, he landed on the steep slope. The tires couldn't grip the loose soil, and so his bike slid down the cliff. Dust flew into the air as he tried to keep control, turning the bike sideways and putting his left foot on the ground to slow his descent. The level ground was approaching fast, and there was only a few feet of dirt at the bottom to stop on before running right into a road. The young boy could only grin.

"Oh well. Guess I'll just have to dive right in." He thought to himself. He put both his feet back on the bike and turned to head straight down. As he approached the bottom he scanned for any cars, and one was coming down the road from the right. It was close, but not moving too fast. If he went fast enough, he figured, he could get past before the car would hit him. Shifting to the lowest gear he had, the boy peddled hard, increasing his speed. Once the boy came onto the road the driver spotted him, and slammed on the brakes. It was too late to stop all the way before hitting him, but just as the driver thought the boy would end up on his windshield, he passed the car unscathed.

Once the boy passed the road he jumped the curb of the sidewalk and came onto the lawn of a school. With the grass adding to the friction, he was finally able to come to a stop. He placed his feet on the ground and gave a sigh of relief.

"Whew, that was close. I might have gotten a little carried away there." He couldn't help but chuckle despite coming close to death.

"Hey, you okay?" The driver shouted from her car. The boy turned around to see a driver who turned quite pale.

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine!" The boy said as he smiled and waved to the driver.

"Then watch what you're doing! I oughta' come over there and whack you ever the head!" Her voice quickly went from concerned to furious.

"Sorry!"

"You will be if you keep that up!" The driver warned as she drove off.

"Heh, she didn't seem very happy." The boy said to himself, smiling. He reached behind him to grab his water bottle from his bag and took a healthy sip. He shook some of the dust from off of his black and red shirt and his black pants. After readjusting his headband he stepped off of his bicycle and walked with it. He walked back to the sidewalk and, finding a man walking by, approached him.

"Excuse me sir, do you know where I can find the Veridian Hospital?"

"Hmm? Are you injured?"

"No, a friend of mine is there."

"Ah, well, actually, just follow this road to the west. Once you see the grocery store, turn right and keeping heading down for about three blocks and you'll reach it."

"Thanks!"

"Hope you friend is well."

"Me too!" The boy turned to head down the road, but then something odd happened. The sky turned dark, even though the sun was still visible.

"Huh? What's going on?"

"I've seen this before!" The man said. "It's a dimensional portal!" Sure enough, a small portal opened only a hundred feet above them. It was aimed right towards the ground, but the swirling black hole was only open long enough for something to fall out of it. A wooden staff fell to the ground, landing and implanting itself into the grass field in front of the school. The portal closed and daylight returned, but the strange staff remained.

The boy approached the staff, as well as a few people nearby. It seemed to be just a plain old wooden staff, except with very dark, purple crystal on top of it. The crystal somewhat looked like the inside of a geode, but much darker in color, almost as if there was something corrupted about it. He approached it closer, but then the crystal began to glow, and the air around it grew cold.

Everyone took a step back, not sure what to make of it. As the crystal started to glow brighter, the grass below it began to decay. The decay slowly spread outward in a perfect circle away from the crystal. The grass decayed quickly, and soon gave way to barren, blackened earth. The rate of the spread of decay was growing, and the crystal was glowing brighter, perhaps even growing in size. This was enough warning to cause everyone to turn tail and run, except for the boy.

"I don't know what this is, but it can't be good." He reached for a Pokéball clipped to his belt and brought it in front of him. "Magneton, come out!" In a burst of light, the magnetic Pokémon emerged from the Pokéball.

"Magneton, strike that crystal with a lightning blast!" From the trainer's command, the Pokémon directed some of its charged energy towards the crystal, and a surge of electricity shot forth. However, as the electricity neared the crystal, it grew thin and dissipated. Magneton continued to fire the electric bolt towards the crystal, but the crystal, it seemed, merely absorbed and glowed brighter.

"Magneton, that's enough!" The boy shouted. He withdrew his Pokémon back inside its ball and tried to think of what else to do. The area that was decaying was now larger, and so was the crystal. It seemed like he merely fed it more.

"This isn't good. What should I do? Ash! I need to warn Ash! If this is from another dimension, he might know what to do!" The boy then turned to hurry and get to Ash, but as he did, he heard someone's voice.

"Use fire." The voice seemed to come from behind him, but as he turned around, he saw no one. In fact, there was no one even around him, as they had all fled.

"Who's there?" The boy asked. But no one answered. He looked back at the crystal, with the area of black earth around it now ten feet in radius. It had now even reached a tree, and the tree was withering just as the grass Heeding the voice's advice, he summoned a new Pokémon, a large, fire-red lizard.

"Charizard, blast that crystal!" Upon the trainer's command, Charizard leaned its head back as it brought flammable fluids to its throat. Then, in a forceful flick of its head, threw a large fireball from its mouth. As the fire blast entered the area that was being consumed by the dark crystal, the fire began to dissipate, but not before it reached the crystal. In just half a second, the crystal heated up brightly, and then exploded. The explosion itself was no bigger than a small firework, but the visible shockwave that came from it was enough to knock both Charizard and its trainer out cold.

* * *

"What makes these black crystals so dangerous?" Luigi asked, his legs shaking underneath the table.

"Our scientists still don't know how it works, but essentially, it's a highly compacted form of energy. What makes it dangerous is that they grow by absorbing all forms of energy around it. Everything it leaves in its wake is death."

"What? How fast can it grow?" Mario asked, now alert.

"Exponentially. The more energy it absorbs, the faster it can grow."

"What can we do to stop it?"

"Fortunately, they're highly flammable. Enough exposure to fire, or a good laser fire, will start a chain reaction that will shatter the crystal."

"Well, as long as we can stop it."

"Not quite." Shin said. "The crystals can reach a 'point of no return.' In other words, its ability to absorb energy will be so strong that nothing can stop it. Compet has an automated, planet-wide system that detects dimensional portals and responds to them, preventing an enemy from attacking us directly. However, not being able to catch them right away is how we've lost many planets to the Echnens. I'm sure my men though will be able to…"

"Sir, we've managed to neutralize the situation." A voice said from Shin's radio.

"That's good to hear."

"We destroyed five of the black crystals with no casualties, the sixth, however, seems to have been destroyed by a local."

"Really? That's surprising. Well, either way, inform the council about the situation." Shin put away the radio and relaxed a little. A moment passed without anyone saying anything.

"It would seem that we've been dragged into this conflict." Zelda stated.

"I'm afraid so. After all you've done for my people, I didn't want this to happen, but it looks nothing can change that now; the Echnens want you dead as much as they want us dead."

"But you seem to have made quick work of those crystals, so we shouldn't have to worry, should we?" Luigi asked.

"Rest assured, there will be more. You may view this as nothing more than a test. I'm sure I can pull some strings and help you get some systems installed to prevent this from happening again."

"Princess Peach, there's another visitor!" Toad said as he came bursting through the door. Princess Peach sighed.

"Let him in." Just as she said that though, a Pidgeotto flew into the room, carrying by its talons a video screen. The bird Pokémon sat the screen on the table in front of Peach and then pecked at a button in front of it. The screen turned on, showing Professor Oak's face.

"Professor Oak, it's good to see you. I assume you have bad news though."

"How did you know?" Oak asked, surprised. "Wait, don't tell me that the other keys have been stolen?"

"I'm afraid so. We have been able to hold onto one though. I'm glad you contacted us, as we now have a confirmation on all the keys."

"This is bad news indeed. On the bright side, it would have been much worse if he got all four keys. Who knows what he would have done with the Nintendo 64."

"He?" Peach asked.

"Hmm? Did you not see who stole the keys?"

"No, we saw them, but the creatures were all different. Who is 'he'?"

"Well, this is making even less sense now. Well, I guess the only way to explain this is to show you what the security cameras recorded." The screen then switched to a view of the complex that was holding the key in Pallette town. The view was from the ceiling looking downward and towards the wall in front, where two officers were standing on either side of a large vault door. Princess Peach turned the screen around so the rest could see.

A portal opened right in front of the vault door, and the officers immediately pulled out their guns and aimed it at the portal.

"Stop where you are!" One of the officers shouted. Someone had come through the portal, but the portal itself was blocking the camera's view of seeing who it was. A loud thud was heard, and the officer on the left fell to the floor unconscious. The other officer then opened fire on the intruder.

"What the?" The officer said in shock, but was then blasted by the intruder, which sent him flying down the hall. The intruder could be heard making a grunting noise, where soon after the vault door was ripped from the wall and thrown aside. The intruder walked in and the portal closed. All they could see was the intruder's feet as he stood inside the vault, but as he walked out and his face could be seen, everyone watching became shocked, but not anymore shocked then Link was.

"Gannondorf!" Link shouted as he slammed his fists into the table, his strength cracking the wood. "What's he doing here? He's supposed to be trapped in the Sacred Realm!" Link's shock had quickly turned to rage.

"Hey, put that back!" Everyone looked back at the screen. Someone else was confronting Gannondorf, but was outside of the camera's view.

"Was that Ash's voice?"

"Don't bother me, boy!" Gannondorf raised his arm towards Ash, and shot out a ball of purple energy towards him. They didn't see what happened to Ash, but they could clearly hear him scream in pain and Pikachu yelling.

Another portal then opened, and Gannondorf stood in front of it.

"Here," he simply said, tossing the controller in. The portal closed, but once it did, Gannondorf clenched his fist as evil energy surged through it. He then punched the air, ripping a hole between the dimensions. Gannondorf continued to pour energy into the hole until it became a stable portal, and he jumped in. The screen then switched back to Oak. Peach, with a hand over her mouth, asked hesitantly, "Ash…is he…."

"He's alive, thankfully." Oak said. The room seemed to collectively give a sigh of relief. "He barely made it though; he'll be in the hospital for a while."

"Grr, we have to do something now! With Gannondorf on the loose, Hyrule is in danger again!"

"Yes, Link, but we don't even know where he went." Zelda stated.

"This might be a good time to bring up my proposal." Shin said. Everyone turned their attention to him. "While I did come here to warn you of the coming danger, there's also a plan of action that I and the council put together." Shin paused for a moment, like he didn't want to say what was coming next.

"And that is?" Mario asked, raising an eyebrow. Shin sighed.

"I know I said earlier that we wouldn't bother you again, but we were hoping you could do us a favor. You see, we're currently in the process of forming alliances and peace treaties with other nations, in hopes of preventing abuses of power like before. We've already made peaceful agreements with some, but others are hesitant, and like with the Echnens, others are still hostile. We were hoping that you and your team, with the Nintendo 64, could help us with this work. Because many still fear us, we would like you to put in a good word. And, per chance, help us out with some of the hostiles, as our forces have been greatly reduced. The 64 being unavailable puts a wrinkle in the plan, but I'm sure we could work something out." Shin spoke to everyone in the room, with everyone looking intently, except Mario. Mario had happily protected his own land, but now his charity was running low, and he snapped. He quickly stood up, knocking his chair over.

"What is this, some sort of cruel joke? As soon as I relax from risking my life, time after time, something else comes up. First it was the Mushroom Kingdom, then it was Nintendo, and now I'm expected to save some alternate dimension! Where does it end? When can I just go back to being a plumber? Why do I have to be responsible for saving everyone?" Everyone was shocked to see Mario's anger; it was a side they've never seen. Shin lowered his head, regretting having asked such a thing. Luigi stood up and tried to place his hand on Mario's shoulder, but Mario put his hand up, refusing his brother's attempt to calm him.

Mario was about to go off on them again, but he heard a small pout. He looked at Peach, and tears were trickling down her face. She was trying to keep herself from crying, but she couldn't stop the tears. Peach's broken heart was like a cold slap to Mario's face.

"I'm…sorry. I guess this is just…my destiny."

"You're not alone, you know." Luigi said, gripping Mario's arm. "You know I'm always with ya! And these guys as well!"

"Yeah…I know."

"You do know why we're called heroes, right?" Link asked. "It's not simply because we save people's lives, but for what we stand for. People look up to us. They emulate us." Link's words stun a little, as Mario saw why he had hurt Peach. Mario looked at Peach, her tears having stopped now.

"I'm sorry, Peach, and shouldn't have lost my cool. Heh, I suppose I plumbing might even get boring compared to this stuff." Mario smiled a bit, and so did Peach.

"Shin, if you'll allow us to also search for the culprits that took the controllers, we'll help you out." Link said. Shin regained his composure.

"Yes, of course. If you'll all follow me to my ship, we can go over the details."

* * *

In a small hospital room, a young, white-haired boy laid in a hospital bed. He wasn't hurt, but was unconscious. A nurse carrying some paperwork work came into the room to check up on the boy. She wasn't sure why he was unconscious, but his health appeared to be just fine. As she looked down at his face, the boy snapped awake and quickly sat up, so much that the nurse jumped and dropped her folder.

"Yeesh, boy! At least you're awake now."

"Huh? How'd I get here?"

"You were lying unconscious next to that strange thing that came out of nowhere, so we brought you here."

"Wait, where's my Charizard?"

"We took it to the Pokecenter."

"Thanks. I'll have to go get him…." The boy's thoughts then wondered elsewhere. "Wait, if this is the hospital, then Ash must be here too!" The boy then leaped out of the hospital bed and hurried out of the room.

"Hey, come back here!" The nurse went after him, exiting the room. She then shouted to him across the hallway. "Wait, we have to make sure you're all right!"

"Don't worry, I feel fine! Thank you!" The boy shouted back. He walked down the hall, looking at the room numbers, only taking a few minutes to find the one that he had been told where Ash was. He opened the door to the room, walked in, and found Ash lying in the hospital bed, with bandages covering his arms, legs, and half his face. Ash turned his head to see who had walked in, and weakly smiled as he saw the white-haired boy.

"Max, it's good to see you."

"I came over as soon as I heard. How ya doing?"

"Heh, I've been better."

"Just what happened anyways?" Max asked.

"I was at home in Pallet Town when I heard the alarm go off at the warehouse that kept the controller, so I went to check it out. There was some guy who was stealing the controller so I tried to stop him, but he was too strong. He used some weird power on me and Pikachu that blasted me away. It was cold, but it burned like a fire."

"And you're lucky to be alive!" Professor Oak said as he walked in. "Do you have any idea who you were up against?"

"Uh, no."

"His name is Gannondorf, also known as the King of Evil. He once ravaged the Kingdom of Hyrule for several years before Link defeated him. It was foolish of you to confront someone like him!"

"But he was stealing the controller! I couldn't just let him take it!" Ash then started coughing as his raised voice stressed his body more than it could take in his state. Oak then sighed.

"I understand, but still." Oak then turned to Max.

"I apologize, but have I met you before?"

"No, my name's Max Thornton. Good to meet you!" Max stretched out his hand. Professor Oak smiled and shook the boy's hand.

"Ah, yes, Ash mentioned about you once. You met just a couple weeks after the Dimensional War, right?"

"Yes."

"Oh, that reminds me." Oak said as he turned back to Ash. "Aside from scolding you, there was another reason I came here."

"What's that?"

"Mario and the others have been asked by Shin to assist the Zox in resolving some conflicts with other races, and that invitation was extended to you."

"Ah! I should go!"

"Not in that shape! The doctor said you'll be bed-ridden for more than a week, and it will be some time after that before you're ready to do battle again."

"I can do it! Let me go in his place!" Max said. Oak was surprised.

"What? Are you sure? Do you even know what you're asking?"

"Yes! Ash told me about his adventures with the Heroes of Nintendo and his fight against the Zox, and with something that important, there's no way I can let Ash disappoint them!" Max said. Oak looked at Max and could see a fire in his eyes, the same kind of fire in Ash's eyes before a Pokémon battle. Professor Oak knew of the dangers, but he saw that there was potential in Max.

"Very well, you can take Ash's place."

"Thanks, I won't let you down!" Max then turned to Ash. "Hope you get well soon, Ash! I'll see you later!"

"Good luck!" Ash said, and then Max quickly walked out of the room. Oak then thought to himself as Max went off to prepare.

"You know, in some countries, I could probably be arrested for reckless endangerment; just can't seem to stop these boys. Oh well, might as well go help him get ready."

* * *

The sound of steady footsteps resounded through the dim cave, followed by the tapping of a wooden staff. An old, cloaked Echna walked down the tunnel towards the inner cave, using his staff as a cane. There was no direct sunlight, yet the cave seemed to glitter with faint light. The ground, walls, and even the ceiling were covered with black crystals, the light from the outside reflecting off of the crystals in all directions through the tunnel. The thickness and size of the crystals became larger the deeper in the Echna walked. Soon he approached the main cavern which was about the size of home. In here the black crystals were even larger, some even formed as stalagmites and stalactites, but the most noticeable feature was the single, giant cave pillar in the center formed from black crystals. The old Echna stopped at the pillar and bowed to it.

"I have returned, my Lord." The Echna said. Then, as if the cave itself were alive, two giant, glowing red eyes opened from the top of the crystal pillar. The eyes looked down at the Echna, and in a disembodied voice said,

"Show me the fruits of your labor." The deep voice echoed hauntingly through the cavern. Upon its command, the Echna reached his left hand into his cloak and pulled out a metal ring, with the three controllers hanging from it like a keychain.

"I'm afraid that only three of the prisoners were successful in obtaining the keys."

"Then you have failed me, old friend. Without all four, those keys are meaningless." The voice said, his disappointment echoing in the Echna's ears.

"Please, my Lord, forgive me. I know where the fourth one is, I can still retrieve it." The old Echna seemed quite troubled at the voice's disappointment.

"Do not bother. It looks like the Nintendo 64's power will not be needed after all."

"Your pardon? I thought you said you needed that power to aid in your energy supply?"

"I did, but with all the new planets we've drained, we're moving along much faster now. My new body will soon be ready. At the very least, the 64's power cannot be used against me."

"Ah, this is great news, my Lord. What may I do for you now, then?"

"There's a planet that has resisted the black crystals. I want you to go there with an army and crush the inhabitants. Kill them all, and take their precious energy."

"As you wish, my Lord."


	3. Chapter 3: A Dark Detour Part 1

**Chapter 3**

**A Dark Detour**

A while after the others left, Princess Peach was taking a stroll through the castle garden. The roses were in bloom and the scent was calming. Her mind had finally drifted from the cares of the day and relaxed from the worries. As she walked through the garden she heard a sound off in the distance which was growing louder. It started to sound like a rocket, and when she looked up, she could see some sort of space ship coming down from the sky. Peach started to wonder if it was Mario and the others coming back, but as it drew closer, she could recognize the house on rockets. Marina was dropping in for a visit.

Peach went out to the field to greet the visitors. Once the ship landed, Professor Theo stumbled out, still unable to cope with Nintendo's strong gravity. Marina then stepped out, holding her hand above her eyes to see through the bright sunlight. Peach then approached them and bowed.

"Theo, Marina, it's a pleasure to see you again."

"Hey Peach, nice to see you too!" Marina said with a wave.

"What brings you both here?"

"Actually, we're here because we heard that Starfox was heading here." Marina then turned and punched and elbowed Theo. "The Prof. had to go and break our dimensional drive, so we wanted to ask Slippy to help us repair it."

"Hey, give me a break here! This technology is nothing like cybots!" Theo complained.

"I'm afraid you just missed them. They headed out with the others to help the Zox."

"Help out? Something going on?"

"It's kind of a long story." Peach briefly explained to them what had happened that day, but before they finished, the sky went dark. They looked around attentively, wondering if it was more dark crystals. A portal opened up horizontal with the ground, and just a mere second after it opened, a blue blur came blasting out. The blur came skidding to a stop, and everyone's fears were calmed.

"Hey guys, what's up?"

"Hey Sonic! Haven't seen you in a while!" Marina said.

"My, this is turning out to be quite the reunion. What brings you here? And…what is that suit you're wearing?" Peach asked. Sonic usually only wore shoes and gloves, but right now he was wearing a red suit which had several devices on it.

"This thing is why I'm here, actually. This is the portable dimensional drive that Tails just made. He wanted me to test it out, so I thought I'd come here. Guess I can say that it works!"

"A dimensional drive? In a suit? He does it work?" Theo asked, his attention now piqued.

"I dunno. Tails said something about it being powered by my speed. I just enter the coordinates on this device," Sonic said as he pointed to a keypad on his left arm. "start running, and it opens a portal."

"Great! If you've got a working dimensional drive, then let's go catch up with the others!" Marina said.

"Catch up? Where'd they go?"

"They went with Shin to go help them with some trouble, and there's no way I'm letting them leave me behind!"

"All right, count me in!" Sonic said.

"Huh? You're going now, just like that?" Peach asked.

"Of course! 'Won't stop, just go!'" Sonic said, quoting himself.

"I've got nothing better to do." Marina said. Sonic then pressed a few buttons on his keypad.

"All right Marina, grab my hand." Sonic said. As soon as Marina grabbed Sonic's hand, Sonic dashed forward. He quickly picked up speed and soon became a blur. Before they were out of sight, electricity coursed through his suit and then reached out to pull open a portal. They went through, and like that, they were gone. Professor Theo stood there looking out at where they disappeared.

"But, what about _my_ dimensional drive?"

In a dimensional tunnel, there's nothing physical to grab hold of, and there's no gravity to pull you towards the walls of the tunnel. With the speed that Sonic entered the portal, both Sonic and Marina floated through the tunnel at an incredible speed. Stars and multi-colored lights flew past them, almost as if they were traveling through space at warp speed, except they were breathing the air that came with them through the portal.

They were beginning to reach the end of the tunnel, but instead of seeing Compet on the other side of the portal, there was a dark void. They braced their selves as they approached the void, but once they hit it, they simply went through, and found themselves still inside the dimensional tunnel.

"What…was that?" Marina asked, shouting above the noise of the rushing air.

"Beats me." They didn't have much time to think about it, as they were now approaching a light at the end of the tunnel. As the light came into view they could see that it was the end of the tunnel, but in the second that they exited the portal, they faced a metal wall only a few feet away.

"Marina? Marina? You okay? You awake?" A faint voice echoed. There was nothing but darkness, and aside from the muffled voice, there was a loud ringing in her head. The darkness started to lift, and a fuzzy light filled her sight. As things became clearer, she could recognize Sonic leaning over her. Sonic's voice was now becoming clearer, and she could now recognize that she was lying on her back. As her hearing and vision cleared, though, she could feel pain flaring up in her back and in her head.

"Uh…where…am I?" Marina asked.

"Huh? You don't remember? You must have hit your head pretty bad then." Sonic said.

"Uh, my head is pounding."

"Can you get up?"

"I think so." As Marina sat up, the pain in her back increased, so she only got up enough to sit against the wall. She looked around at her surroundings, seeing that they were in a large room filled with wooden crates. The floor, walls, and ceiling were all made of metal, and there was a single door to the left of her. "Where are we?"

"Not Compet, I'm afraid. My control panel is giving me the coordinates of a different dimension."

"Oh yeah, we were headed to Compet, and I remember going down the dimensional tunnel, but…I can't seem to remember what happened after that."

"We hit that wall. Well, mostly you." Sonic said pointing at the wall above her. Marina looked up, and saw a body-shaped dent in the wall.

"Did…did I do that?"

"Yup. The portal spit us out in the air and right into this wall. Without the ground to slow us down, I couldn't do much, but you yanked on my arm and tossed me back. It wasn't enough to actually throw me in the opposite direction, but it slowed me down enough that I didn't get hurt. You then tried to turn around and use your rockets to slow yourself down, but it was too little too late. How do you feel?"

"Well, my back aches, my head is pounding and still ringing, but I don't think I broke any bones at least. How long was I out?"

"Only a few seconds. I think you'll be fine." Sonic said, smiling. His ears quickly perked up as he heard something outside though.

"Are you sure?"

"I'm telling ya, I thought I heard something back here!" The voices became louder, and then the door knob began to turn. The door to the room swung open, and a Waddle Dee stepped into the room, with another one right behind him. The first Waddle Dee looked in the direction of Sonic and Marina and jumped and screamed in horror at the first sight of the intruders. He then slammed the door closed.

"Hey, wait!" Sonic shouted. He ran over to the door, which was thankfully unlocked from the inside, and opened the door. He called to the Waddle Dees but they paid no attention to him. Instead, the one Waddle Dee ran towards a button that was placed on the far side of the wall. Once he hit the button, red lights began flashing and an alarm sounded.

"Uh oh, looks like we're not welcomed. I hope you're up to running, because we gotta get outta here!" Sonic said to Marina. Sonic grabbed Marina's hand, and once she stood up, Sonic took off, with Marina being pulled behind. They ran into the other room where the two Waddle Dees were. The two faced the intruders to prevent their escape, but Sonic merely jumped over them and ran towards the open hallway. As they ran down the hallway, Blade Knights came running in from different doors and blocked their way. Sonic then picked up the pace and started running against the side of the left wall, then continued on towards the ceiling, past the Blade Knights, and then back down the right wall and back to the floor.

At the end of the hallway was another room, along with several Waddle Dees, Blade Knights, and Sir Kibbles, all whom were ready to stop the intruders. As soon as they entered the room, the door behind them slid shut, and the only other two doors were shut as well.

"Marina, can you open that door ahead of us?"

"Perhaps."

"Then get ready." Sonic then rolled into a ball and started spinning furiously on the ground. Not waiting for Sonic to prepare, all of the guards charged forward, but they still weren't fast enough. Like a bolt of lightning Sonic dashed forward, plowing into the guards. For how closely they were packed together, they were all knocked down like bowling pins.

With a path cleared, Marina rocketed forward to the door ahead. There wasn't anything to grab onto, so she tried to slide the metal door open by pushing towards the side. The door only budged a bit, but once it had slid open far enough that she could get her hands through, she gripped the side of the door and pulled it open. Some of the Sir Kibbles were now getting back up and didn't waste time to attack. The small guards threw their boomerang-like blades at the two, but Marina was able to get the door open wide enough in time for them to slip through. The blades were heading for them, but as soon as Marina and Sonic were through, they closed the door behind them, leaving the blades to the strong metal door.

They were now in a short hallway that only led to an elevator. Deciding the elevator wasn't safe, Marina pulled the elevator doors open, much more easily than the last door. They looked inside the shaft, seeing the elevator cable hanging in the middle, and what seemed like endless darkness in either direction.

"There's no sign of what floor we're on. Which way should we go?" Marina asked.

"Beats me. Down could take us to ground level, or further below."

"Let's go up then. We can always climb back down if we find ourselves on top." With that they jumped for the cables and grabbed hold, and started climbing up.

"I know I asked this before, but where are we?" Marina asked.

"I could be wrong, but one of those guys back there looked like a Waddle Dee."

"What's a Waddle Dee?"

"A minion of King Dedede, someone who lives in dimension N."

"What? But I thought you said we were in some other dimension?"

"I don't know, maybe this thing is broken. Tails's machines aren't always perfect." Sonic said. The elevator cables suddenly began to move and they both lost grip. They then grabbed onto the cable that was going up, which gave them a free ride. They were moving somewhat fast now, but as they looked up, they could now see the ceiling.

"Ah! We gotta jump!" Sonic shouted.

"No, hold on!" Marina then grabbed with one hand the cable that was going down, while still holding onto the cable that was going up. As soon as she grabbed hold of both cables, her arms were jolted in two directions, and she felt as if her arms would be torn right off. Her left hand slipped and she was pulled upward, but she grabbed on more tightly. The cables were slowing down, but the friction from the cable was starting to burn her hand, and the pain in her back was now sharp and stinging. They were now coming to a stop, finally stopping only a few feet from the ceiling. Sonic jumped up towards the elevator door on the wall and pulled it open, and they both jumped back into the light.

Sonic and Marina were now out of the elevator shaft, but they didn't look before they leaped; they were now surrounded. At the top floor was a control room of some sorts. It was a large semi-circle, with control panels on the sides and windows all along the walls, and a sailing ship-like steering wheel at the front. Several Waddle Dees were in the room, with a Blade Knight at the steering wheel. There was no way out, except for the windows which only showed thick fog. The Blade Knight faced the intruders and brandished his sword.

"It looks like there's only one way out of this place. You with me?"

"Yeah, let's go for it." Sonic and Marina charged forward, and so did the others. The small force drew their weapons as they charged towards the intruders, but just as they reached them, Sonic jumped in the air, and holding onto Marina, dashed in the air towards the glass window. The small force could only watch, dumbfounded, as the intruders whizzed past them overhead and broke through the window.

Once they broke through the window and flew into the mist, they fell only a few feet before hitting the ground. The wind was strong, blowing the white mist past them at a furious pace, but they could still only see about a foot in front of them. Deciding to not stick around they ran forward, but at a pace that Marina could go; any faster and they might bump into something before seeing it. They ran, hoping that they weren't being followed, but with the noise from the wind it was difficult to tell. It wasn't a minute longer that they came to a ledge. They couldn't see what was down there, but they didn't have many options.

"Come on, let's go"

"Wait Marina, maybe we shouldn't. I have a bad feeling about this." They pondered what to do, but suddenly the mist was replaced with a bright light. As their eyes adjusted to the light, they could see what was around them. Above them was a clear, blue sky, and below them they could see what the mist really was: clouds. They had stopped at the bow of an air ship. They turned around to see the ship they were on, and two things took them by surprise. One of the things that took them by surprise was that they were on Meta Knight's ship. The other surprise was that the main canon was charged and ready to fire at them.

The beam canon fired its devastating beam, and the heroes were corned with nowhere to run. Marina thrust her arms forward in front of the beam, and with her strength and the power of her suit, held it back. It was like trying to hold back a waterfall, but she managed to protect both herself and Sonic. As the beam ended, Marina gathered up some of the energy into a ball, and while the canon stopped, she threw the energy ball back at it. The ball exploded upon impact and carved a large hole in the front of the canon. Sonic whistled in amazement.

"Wow Marina, that was impressive! And even being injured like tha…" Sonic looked back at Marina to find her collapsed on the floor. "Marina!" Sonic knelt down to see if she was okay, but was stopped as someone grabbed him from behind.

"You leave that monster alone if you want to live." The voice said from behind him. Sonic looked down and could see a jagged sword pointed at his neck.

"Dang, looks like you got the jump on me." Sonic said smugly. Even in a dangerous position Sonic held his cool. "Look, I think there's some sort of mistake here. We didn't know we were on Meta Knight's ship. There's no reason we need to fight."

"As long as you're partners with the monster Marina there's a reason to fight."

"Monster? What are you talking about? Wait…that voice…is that you Meta Knight?"

"So, you've heard of me. I can't say the same about you."

"What do you mean? We met each other in the last Smash Brothers tournament! Look, if you're still mad about me beating you, you don't…."

"Now you're talking nonsense! Now I'll say this once: either surrender, or die with Marina." At this point some of Meta Knight's men had gathered around them. Two of them came to pick up Marina, but they stopped before taking her away.

"Sir! Something's different about her."

"She's wearing different clothes, so what?" Meta Knight asked. As he looked down at Marina's legs, he saw what they were referring to.

"Human legs? What happened? Isn't she a Cybot?"

"Yeah, several years ago."

"What? But we saw her only yesterday with those machine legs."

"Yesterday? Look, something's not right here, so how about you put down your sword so we can talk this over." Meta Knight looked back at Marina, then back at Sonic. Something was indeed different here. Meta Knight then sheathed his sword.

"Tend to Marina's wounds, but place her in the cell."

"Yes, sir!" One of the Blade Knights said, who then carried her off. Sonic turned around and faced Meta Knight.

"Thanks."

"So what's your name?"

"Sonic! Sonic the Hedgehog!"

As Marina came to, she found herself once again in a metal room. She slowly lifted her head off the floor, seeing that no one was around. She sat up, and that's when she noticed the barred wall. She stood up and tried move the bars, but they wouldn't budge. Even with her strength they still held strong. This seemed to be a very secure prison cell.

"Oh, come on!" Frustrated, Marina sat on the barren floor, and started thinking to herself. "How'd I get her anyways? I don't remember anything after stopping that laser cannon. I guess I blacked out from the stress and pain. Wait, considering what I just went through, I actually feel pretty good right now! Maybe a good rest is all I needed to recover!"

Somewhere out of sight, the sound of a lock clicked, and a door swung open. Someone was walking towards her cell. Marina stood up, and around the corner came a large, blue, roughly penguin-shaped person.

"So, you're the other Marina Liteyears. You do look a little different."

"Huh? What does that mean?"

"Come on, follow me. Your spikey friend was explaining it to us." The penguin man then unlocked the cell and opened the door. Marina then followed him out.

"So who are you?" Marina asked as they walked down a hallway.

"The name's Dedede, and I'm the King of Dreamland."

"Dreamland? Isn't that the place where Kirby's from? Wait, you mean we're back in Dimension N?"

"As I said, your spikey friend was explaining everything." Dedede then opened the door at the end of the hallway. Inside was Sonic and Meta Knight sitting at a round table.

"Sonic! I'm glad to see you! What happened?"

"Take a seat. How ya feeling? Meta Knight said they healed your wounds."

"Pretty good, actually. So, what happened? How did we get back to Dimension N?"

"Well, I can't say how we got here, but what I do know is that this isn't Dimension N."

"What? But I thought Dedede said we're in Dreamland."

"An opposite Dreamland, in an opposite Dimension N."

"Opposite? How so?"

"Your villains are our heroes, and vice versa." Dedede said.

"Really? Everyone?"

"Even Dedede here." Sonic said. "From what the people on this ship have said to me, Dedede is a generous, benevolent king, even though where we're from he's mean and greedy."

"So what about Kirby?" Marina asked.

"The terror of Dreamland!" Dedede shouted. "That punk has gone and eaten entire villages!"

"Okay, so how about Mario?"

"Mario? You mean that guy on Nintendo who's always trying to kidnap Princess Peach?" Meta Knight said. "He's always causing mischief, but Bowser is always there to stop him."

"And Link?"

"Threw Hyrule into seven years of darkness, but was eventually defeated by the hero Ganondorf."

"Samus?"

"Tyrant ruler of five galaxies. Uses her army of Metroids to conquer planets. Sometimes hires the Starfox team to do her dirty work."

"Wait, let me guess…Sonic usually tries to conquer the world but is stopped by the hero Dr. Eggman?

"Actually, we've never heard of Sonic before."

"I wasn't born in Dimension N, remember Marina? I only ended up there because of the Zox."

"Well, I guess all of this makes sense. Wait, so if you were trying to attack me, then does that mean…."

"The Marina we know is a vicious pirate." Meta Knight quickly replied. "You do look a little different, which is why I was willing to give you two a chance. But remember this: if you are the Marina we're looking for, then I'll take you down the moment you try anything."

"The Marina we know recently stole something precious to us." Dedede explained. "It's called the Star Rod, and it's a powerful relic. For some reason, Marina has been working with Kirby, and they've been on the attack for a while."

"I got to admit, I just can't picture an evil version of Kirby." Sonic said.

"Well, I suppose as long as we're here, we could lend you a hand. It just feels weird to think there could be an evil me." As soon as they offered to help, an alarm sounded, and then someone shouted over the loudspeakers.

"Captain Meta Knight! We've spotted Marina's ship! It's five kilometers from our bow!" With that, Meta Knight and Dedede hurried to the bridge. Marina and Sonic followed.

At the bridge were several Waddle Dees and Blade Knights controlling the ship, as well as two Waddle Dees wiping a window. It looked like they had just replaced the window that Sonic and Marina broke earlier.

"Show me." Meta Knight demanded. A Blade Knight handed him some binoculars, and Meta Knight peered out the windows. They were above the clouds, but out in the distance he could see a black flag, marked with a skull and crossbones, poking out from the clouds. It swam through the clouds like a shark's fin, hinting to the danger that was coming.

"Is the main cannon online?"

"No sir, we're still repairing it."

"Then open all starboard cannons and bring us about!" The Halberd veered to the left, while countless hatches on the right side of the ship slid open. Cannons then pushed out from the hatches, lining the side of the ship. As the Halberd prepared for battle, the Pirate ship emerged from the clouds. The ship appeared to be a typical wooden pirate ship that would be found on the sea, except it was flying through the use of rockets attached to the bottom. It also had tattered black sails, even though a ship on rockets had no use for them. The ship was about a third of the size of the Halberd, but it was moving a lot faster. It too had cannons ready at the side of the ship, and ready to fire.

Just as the pirate ship passed to the right of the Halberd, both sides opened fire. The Halberd unleashed a fury of lasers right into the pirates. It would have ripped the wooden ship to tinder, but the lasers instead collided with an energy shield. The pirates then fired their own cannons, firing large metal balls. The Halberd didn't have an energy shield, but its sturdy hull withstood the beating.

As the pirate shipped passed it then turned around and began circling the Halberd, continuing to fire its cannons.

"How are we holding up?"

"The hull is withstanding, sir, but they're aiming for our cannons. We've already lost thirteen percent of our arsenal."

"So they're trying to disarm us?" Meta Knight took a second to think. "Concentrate your fire on their bow! We have to break through their shields!" They began firing at a single spot, and their shield started to glow a bright red. It looked like the plan was about to work, but then the pirates dove below the clouds.

"Looks like she ducked for cover. She definitely seems to know what she's doing." Dedede mentioned.

"What should we do? They're probably going to try to sneak up on us." Sonic asked. Meta Knight then looked towards the helmsman.

"As soon as they appear, head in the opposite direction to avoid fire."

"Aye, Sir!" The pirate ship then emerged just in front of them. It rose from the clouds and headed straight for them.

"They're on a collision course!"

"Dive! Dive!" The Halberd dove towards the clouds, and the pirates rose above. Parts of the Halberd scraped against their shields, sending a nerve-twitching screech throughout the ship. Visibility was poor in the clouds, and soon their rear was being fired on.

"Navigator, how far are they behind us?"

"Holding roughly at a hundred yards."

"Helmsman, forward at full throttle!"

"Yes, sir!" The helmsman pushed a lever forward as far as it could go, and a long stream of fire jetted out the back of the Halberd and right into the pirate ship. The pirates ascended to get out of the fire, and the Halberd did as well. They were now both above the clouds.

"Now, turn us around and head straight for them!" The large ship slowed down to turn as sharp as they could. Once they faced the pirates they sped back up.

"Open forward canons!" Forward-facing canons then opened up on the Halberd, aimed straight for the pirates. Just as they were about to be within firing range, however, the pirates turned around.

"Are they running away?" Sonic asked.

"I doubt it. They're not the kind to run away from a fight." The pirate ship was moving faster though and moving further away from them. From the back of the pirate ship a canon then pointed towards the Halberd and opened fire. Only one shot was fired, and the pirates then sped away.

"A single cannon ball is headed our way, sir."

"Just one? There has to be more than that." Meta Knight and the others looked more closely, and they could see that something was on top of the cannon ball. Once it reached the ship they could see that a person was on the cannon ball. As the ball flew over the ship the person jumped off and landed on the deck. As the crew looked at who was on the deck, chills went down their spines.

"Sir Meta Knight! It's Marina!" Marina looked down at the deck, and sure enough it looked like her, though a little different. Instead of Marina's hat she wore a bandana that covered her hair, with tassels from the bandana hanging down the back. She wasn't wearing power armor, but instead a red shirt with a black vest and black pants. She held a sword in her mouth but then removed it, and holding it in her hand pointed the sword at the cabin.

Author's Notes: So yeah, I'm going incredibly slow on this story. I'm pretty busy, and writing is pretty low on my list of priorities right now. This chapter is close to finished though, so I figured I'll put up at least part of it since I don't know when I'll get back to this.


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